Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII (1432-25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cibo, was Pope from 29 August 1484 to 25 July 1492, succeeding Pope Sixtus IV and preceding Pope Alexander VI.

Biography
Giovanni Battista Cibo was born in Genoa, Republic of Genoa in 1432 to a family of Greek ancestry, and he went to Padua and Rome for his education. In 1467, he was made Bishop of Savona by Pope Paul II, and Pope Sixtus IV made him a cardinal in 1473. In 1484, he was elected Pope to succeed Sixtus IV, and he supported a rebellion by the barons of the Kingdom of Naples against King Ferdinand I of Naples. In 1489, he excommuniated King Ferdinand, and he invited King Charles VIII of France to invade Italy and take possession of Naples, an act that would lead to the Italian Wars in 1494. Pope Innocent was also involved in Ottoman politics, giving refuge to Sultan Cem in exchange for an annual payment from the Ottoman sultan Bayezid. Pope Innocent died of fever in 1492, and Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia succeeded him as "Pope Alexander VI".